Fīrūzābād

Fīrūzābād, ancient Gūr, town situated about 55 miles (88 km) south of Shīrāz, in the Fars region of south-central Iran. The town is said to have been founded by the Sāsānian king Ardashīr I (ad 224–241) in commemoration of his victory over the Parthian king Artabanus. The Sāsānian town was circular in plan and had a high tower topped by a fire altar in the centre. The ruined palace of Ardashīr I in the town is the oldest extant example of Sāsānian architecture. The name of the town was changed in the middle of the 10th century because the citizens felt that gūr (Persian: “grave”) had unpleasant connotations. Pop. (2006) 59,306.

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a mountainous, arid, ethnically diverse country of southwestern Asia. Much of Iran consists of a central desert plateau, which is ringed on all sides by lofty mountain ranges that afford access to the interior through high passes. Most of the population lives on the edges of this forbidding,...

...country. The best-known groups are at Naqsh-e Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab, both near Persepolis, and at Bishāpūr, an ancient city a few miles north of Kāzerūn in Fārs. At Fīrūzābād—the ancient Gūr, also in Fārs—are two reliefs of Ardashīr I, one depicting the overthrow of Artabanus V, the other depicting an...